Great environment and team members. Challenging problems to solve and you get to own the entire end to end chain. some people see this as a burden I see it as valuable experience. Close to the city makes it very easy to access people and places. Work on problems that need to scale

Cons

Can be a little disorganized at times due to the sheer growth of the company but I think they are doing a good enough job considering.

Advice to Management

Keep the innovation flowing as the challenge inherent in interesting problems is a good lure for bright people

The company is objective, unemotional and focussed. For a certain type of old-school mathematician nerd (not the new-age script-kiddies), this can be a good thing. There are no company wide memos on "culture" or "grand visions". Everything you do has an objective, and a measurable, well-defined outcome. You know why you're doing something and that helps you make decisions faster, easier and more efficiently. The company is growing, aggressive and I believe the only company able to withstand Apple. The company genuinely cares about customers - that's not rhetoric. You can find an Amazon engineer at 3:00am in the morning, shake them out of deep sleep, drug them and ask them why a certain decision was made. Whether they're on-guard or off-guard, the answer won't change. If something impacts customers in a positive way, it will be done.

Cons

The above pro can become a minor con since there is little to non-existent romanticism about any type of work. The biggest con is facilities - I came from a company with lots of facilities, on-campus laundry, etc., so I was used to convenient parking and a lot of campus-wide services which was a mild annoyance to me for a few months. The hours aren't quite flexible, so it gets difficult to manage your time if you have to visit other businesses during business hours only.

Advice to Management

I like to attend meetings during the day while doing other stuff like groceries, etc. during the day, and then spend a coding session at night where I am undisturbed. Fixed business hours for developers is a pain - sometimes you get stuck in something and just sit there staring at the screen, because you get criticized if you're not present during core hours.

I was working in a AWS team and the product that my team was working on is new and exciting. Amazon is at the forefront on the cloud computing area. For the short time I was there, I felt I was contributing to the product. Team was small, decent work-life balance (people would finish working at around 7pm, sometimes people would leave earlier). Location was good, I could live downtown Seattle and bike to work. Lockers and bike cages are available for biking to work

Cons

None of the perks of the normal Internet companies. A lot of options for lunch in the areas around the campus, even if a bit expensive sometimes.

The biggest pro is that, there are so much things you can learn. You will never regret it. (Do internship here if you have an opportunity) Before I join Amazon, I did not know the company had one of the best technology to manage overall systems & environments. Very flexible work hours. I get to office by 10am or 11am. Good compensation, and stock options which is rallying every month. Good benefits, some employ discounts, free public rides in Seattle. Having Amazon on resume is definitely pro. Few years ago, environment for SDEs were pre-mature, but I think it is very stable nowadays, and you can take great benefits and speed up development process.

Cons

Hard work (but will give you a lot of opportunity to learn) Some level of frugality

Did you know that at Amazon, we play a modified version of Broomball at our annual company picnic? Our homegrown variant includes playing on a grass field, using a larger rubber ‘exercise ball,’ and having goal lines instead of nets. How’s that for peculiar? 2015's Broomball Champs for the 4th year in a row: The Mighty Ducts.

Amazon.com update

4 days ago

We got the chance to hear from one of our summer interns, Samuel Hoskins (age 21). Samuel is from Little Rock, Arkansas but attends Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He has just concluded his 10 week internship with us last week, thank you for spending your summer with us Sam! Visit this page to see the interview: http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vIKQX